“But it's what the world does to people. It makes some of us feel ugly and it makes some of us look like criminals, like angry fools.”

“I feel like the world stopped. And I got off...and then it started spinning again, but too fast for me to hop back on. I feel like I'm still trying to get a...to get some kind of foothold on living”

“This is what kindness does, Ms.Albert said. Each little thing we do goes out, like a ripple, into the world.”

“What did it sound like...having someone call your name across a crowded school yard? How did it feel to turn to the sound of your name, to see some smiling face or waving hand and know it was for you and you alone?" —Staggerlee”

“It seemed like someone was always leaving someone, like that's the way the world worked—people were born and people died, people left and people came. It was like the world was saying you can't have everything you want at the same time.”

“And freedom? Oh, freedom. Well that's just some people talking. Your prison is walking through this world all alone.”

“That's what makes best friends. It's not whether or not you live on the same block or go to the same school, but how you feel about each other in your hearts.”